I don't know what happened to my baby, but in moving as we arrived at my old apartment building to pack up some more stuff some smoky looking stuff came out of my vents and my hubby had us park the baby at the old apartment building...

My hubby says that he thinks that the thermostat frozen shut causing the car not to cycle coolant therefore overheating...

I need this fixed ASAP (going thru medical problems and need to be able to get to ER or doctors office..)

if any Portland (Oregon) area T4R members would like to meet me at my old apartment building to take a peek at it I'd really appreciate it... you can email me at [email protected] ... its the only email address that I can check via my cell phone since we don't have net till Monday the 29th.. and I'll give a phone number after emailing me...

Thanks Guys,

Melissa

mmmm doesnt sound good...3.0 is pretty notorious for head gaskets

Popping the hood would have been advantageous at the time the smoke was visual. It could have provided a clue as to where the origin of the smoke was. If he believes it

Color of the smoke?

My older Porsche use to blow smoke from the vents occasionally in humid weather (Hong Kong). The smoke looked like fire smoke -a grey color. Usually disappeared after a minute or two. First time it happened I could have sworn the car was on fire, but the smoke had no significant smell.

If its a head gasket I think (?) you might see a white powdery look around the edge of the gasket/head face. Also if it were a head gasket you would likely see steam coming from under the hood rather than the vents - again speculating.

You can check the radiator for a white-ish color too as this will indicate presence of oil in the radiator fluid indicating a head gasket.

Sorry can't help further. Post to Yotatech for member who might be in your area.

Smoke through the vents in the dash? Was the AC on? If so, probably condensation. Nothing to worry about (unless it smelled like antifreeze).


What was the temp gauge reading?

I clearly would not worry about condensation which can appear as a white, light grey smoke coming out of the vents - IF, and I repeat this, IF you did not smell something sweet!

Have you heard any gurgling or bubbling sounds which would indicate that air (from the combustion process) is escaping through the head gasket and into the coolant passages and into the coolant system.

You can pay a small fee and have a shop hook up the equipment to your exhaust system which will tell the particulates of the exhaust.

Its worth the diagnosis if you are concerned.

One other possibility that happened to me -- I had an Oldsmobile where the heater core went out, but lost the antifreeze in the engine compartment instead of the passenger compartment. When out of coolant, it started smoking like you described.

I agree with many of the posts above. I have had an identical problem in my Acura TL, particularly in hot & humid weather. Pressure checked the A/C and I had a refrigerant leak in the system. Got the leak plugged and recharged it. Good as new!